[HSRGSS] Chapter 91: A Gesture of Goodwill

'Herta?'

'Screwllum?'

'Ruan Mei?'

As soon as Jade walked into the Supreme Guardian's office, she was stunned, frozen in place.

'What's going on?'

'Why are three members of the Genius Society here?'

'Even the always-aloof Herta is present...'

Naturally, Jade recognized the members of the Genius Society, especially these three—they were particularly famous among the other geniuses.

Herta needed no introduction—she was an Emanator of Erudition, and even the IPC sometimes had to cater to her moods.

Screwllum had single-handedly convinced the IPC to abandon their hostility and take the initiative to make peace.

Ruan Mei, an expert in the field of biology, had been described by the IPC as 'a very low-key person possessing extraordinary perception and the ability to integrate information, easily capturing the microscopic details of reality, weaving them into a torrent of data in her mind, and using that to make deductions and predictions.'

'I didn't come to the wrong place, didn't I...'

Jade could hardly believe her eyes as she looked around.

'I'm not wrong—this is the previous office...'

If that were the case, why would three geniuses gather in such a poor place out of nowhere?

Could they be here to investigate the Stellaron on this planet?

They couldn't possibly be here to back Jarilo-VI, right?

Or maybe... could it be that the Stellaron on Jarilo-VI was actually being handled by these three?

If so, that would explain everything.

Meanwhile, as Jade was still in shock, a young man suddenly appeared.

He was so handsome it was hard to describe—just one look and Arita from the Traditional Project Department would want to sign him as a galactic idol.

Such was Jade's first impression of Lucian.

"You... You're with the IPC."

Herta spotted Jade and addressed her.

"Madam Herta, I didn't expect to see you here."

Jade quickly put on a polite smile and responded calmly, as if her previous shock had never existed.

As Screwllum and Ruan Mei also turned to look at her, Jade greeted each of them respectfully before asking what troubled her.

"Did the three of you come here to conduct experiments? Do you need any assistance from the IPC?"

"Ms. Jade, I came here to visit the hometown of a future friend—there are no experiments planned."

Screwllum answered politely.

"Same for me."

Ruan Mei glanced calmly at Jade and softly replied.

"Oh, you go do your thing. Don't mind us."

Herta spoke casually, waving her hand nonchalantly, then reached out her hand toward Lucian.

"Alright, give me the chip. Looks like you've got things to discuss with the IPC, so I'll do you a favor and install the firewall for you."

Lucian reached into his back pocket and placed the chip in Herta's hand.

Upon seeing this, Herta shot Lucian a look of utter disgust.

"Ew, you're so gross!"

Herta scoffed, her eyebrows furrowing, and then, not bothering with Lucian anymore, quickly walked away with the chip.

Screwllum followed to help with the installation.

Ruan Mei looked around and found a sofa to sit on.

After hearing the three geniuses' responses, Jade immediately latched onto the keyword 'friend.'

One should know that to be friends with members of the Genius Society was no simple matter. Watching Herta interact with that unfamiliar young man so casually, it seemed they got along quite well.

In that instant, Jade's business instincts told her—this place was no ordinary place, and that young man was no ordinary person!

Could he be the 'friend' from the IPC rumor—Herta's friend, Lucian?

Cocolia, on the other hand, seemed to regain her sense of security upon seeing Lucian return, visibly relaxing.

Now, Cocolia's sense of safety soared, and when she looked at Jade, she even found her kind of cute—like she could be a friend.

Just then, Lucian also looked over at Jade—his eyes scanned her up and down.

It was his first time meeting Jade in person, so he had to get a good look.

Long, pink-purple hair, a strikingly beautiful face.

D-cup breasts, excellent.

S-tier legs, excellent.

An S-tier body as well, excellent.

Her looks went without saying, also S-tier, excellent.

A bonus for knowing how to step on people in high heels—plus 0.2 points.

Jade's score was 9.2 out of 10.

Any woman who could get more than 9 points from Lucian was undoubtedly a rare beauty.

Jade truly made the cut.

"Lord Lucian, she's—"

Cocolia was just about to tell Lucian about the IPC's intentions, but Lucian suddenly raised a hand to stop her and took the initiative to explain himself.

"Interastral Peace Corporation, Strategic Investment Department, P46 senior manager, one of the Ten Stonehearts—Jade."

"Technically, Topaz should be the one collecting Jarilo-VI's bad debt, so why are you here?"

Lucian rattled off a string of information without missing a beat, while Jade's mind raced to think of a response.

As she had guessed, the young man really was Herta's 'friend'—Lucian.

However, she couldn't help but wonder how he knew about Jarilo's bad debt.

She had only just received the notice herself from Diamond, and Lucian wasn't even with the IPC, so how did he know?

Jade felt something was off.

'Tch, this place is deeper than it looks.'

Thankfully, she hadn't acted impulsively and messed things up—just changing tactics would let her resolve things perfectly.

"I'm not here to collect debt. I'm here on behalf of the IPC to offer congratulations, to celebrate you getting through the crisis."

Jade quickly shifted gears, flashing an elegant smile at Lucian.

At this point, she couldn't possibly miss it—Lucian was Jarilo-VI's savior and leader, and he was even friends with three geniuses.

Never mind how strong he might be—his connections to the three geniuses alone were enough for the IPC to treat him with special care.

Besides, Jade herself was good at spotting value.

Her judgment now was that Lucian had hidden value, worth far more than Jarilo-VI's debt—someone worth investing in, winning over, making friends with, and one whose returns could explode in the future.

"You just mentioned a debt. I thought you were here to collect debt."

Lucian looked at Jade with a half-smile, as if admiring her body and seeing straight through her at the same time.

"But that's not what you said earlier, Ms. Jade."

Cocolia suddenly got bold, chiming in like she was using Lucian's presence to back her up.

"Ms. Cocolia, you might have misunderstood." Jade kept smiling. "What I meant was, does your planet need the IPC to send people to help with development? If things are built up, the value goes up, right?"

Upon hearing this, Cocolia was at a loss for words as she realized that nothing too explicit had been said in their conversation just now.

Needless to say, that was the whole point of why Jade kept things subtle—it left room to maneuver if something unexpected, like now, happened.

"You said you came to offer congratulations... Did you bring a gift?" Lucian asked with a calm smile.

"Of course, I've prepared one." Jade nodded softly. "It's just that there was a delay on the way, so it'll be delivered in a few days."

In truth, she hadn't prepared anything, so she would have to hurry and get her department to fix that.

"I see, I see..." Lucian nodded slowly. "But I just heard you mention signing a debt, though?"

"You misheard. It's a contract inviting Jarilo-VI to rejoin the IPC's economic system, agreeing to erase the debt, and also send our people to help with Jarilo-VI's development."

While explaining to Lucian, Jade quickly tapped away at her phone, revising the contract.

Originally, the contract had called for Jarilo-VI to basically sell itself to pay off the debt, but she rewrote it right on the spot.

Lucian, fully aware of what Jade was doing, was secretly delighted.

She erased the debt without hesitation and only asked them to join the IPC's economic system—it was clearly a gesture of goodwill.

Joining the IPC's economic system meant using credits on Jarilo, which fit perfectly with what Lucian had been planning anyway.

Of course, Lucian knew it was most likely because of the three geniuses that Jade made such a decisive change.

Regardless, Lucian couldn't help but admire Jade—she truly had vision and courage.

In the end, after a brief talk, Jade signed a new contract with Jarilo-VI.

Jarilo-VI joined the IPC's economic system, the debt was wiped out, and both sides became friendly partners.

"Ms. Jade, please make yourself at home. I have something else to take care of."

Lucian gave Jade a gentle smile, left Belobog, and headed into space to find a deserted planet where he could carve an inscription as a gift.

A gift was obviously necessary—otherwise, the IPC really would think he was just mooching off them.